


A Beginning

by Haywire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-08-17
Packaged: 2017-12-23 18:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haywire/pseuds/Haywire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set pre-Avengers, Maria Hill is training Natasha Romanov as a new SHIELD agent. Could it evolve into something more than that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Azar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azar/gifts).



> Written for Azar for Rare Pair Fest 2013.

“Harder.”

Natasha lashed out with her arm, striking her target, namely a sparring glove held by Maria Hill.

“Come on, Romanov, you can hit harder than that.”

Glowering at Hill, the red head wheeled around and snapped out her leg, landing a hard blow with the heel of her foot.

“There you go, that’s better.” Maria grinned as Natasha’s assault continued, following up her kick with a quick punch to her other hand and then a harder one on the first hand.

After the last blow connected Natasha stopped, exhaling deeply. “Are we almost done here?”

“Done? We’ve barely gotten started.”

“We’ve been sparring for nearly two hours now.” Natasha protested, wiping her brow with a SHIELD branded towel before reaching for a bottle of water. “How long is this supposed to last again?”

“Until I say you’re ready, and not a second before.” Hill lowered her hands just the same, folding her arms as she looked at Natasha.

“And how will you know that, exactly?”

“When you can take me down, of course.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow at that. “With weapons?”

Hill shook her head in response. “Hand to hand.”

“Let me get this straight. You want me to fight you one on one in unarmed combat after I’ve trained for two hours first?”

“Unless you’re afraid, yes.” Maria took off the training gloves and tossed them aside.

Natasha shrugged. “Sounds like close enough of a fair fight to me. Do you want me to tie one hand behind my back too just to help-”

Maria interrupted her by striking at her with a speed that belied her previously relaxed posture. The blow nearly landed but Natasha leaned backwards, the attempted strike missing her by less than an inch.

Natasha went with her momentum, flipping backwards and away from the oncoming Hill. When she landed she had to shift to one side in order to avoid Maria’s follow up attack, as she pressed on her assault.

Rather than continuing to backpedal, Natasha went on the counter offensive, ducking low and attemping to sweep Maria’s legs out from under her. Hill easily dodged the move, but it halted her approach, even if only momentarily. The red head took advantage of that and began her own attack, standing and spinning her fist around at Hill, who was able to block the blow with her own arm but now she was on the defensive.

Maria grabbed a hold of the other woman’s arm and grappled with her, however Natasha rolled through the attempted punch and broke free of her hold. Instead Hill pushed her in the same direction and tried to trip her up, resulting in Natasha hopping over the outstretched leg and tucking into a roll, landing several feet away.

Hill turned and pressed on, heading after Natasha once again, but this time the Russian was ready. Summoning her strength, she ran in the same direction, away from Maria, leaping upward and running part way up the wall, then pushing off with a flip to land behind the pursuing SHIELD agent. Before Hill could react, Natasha reached up and wrapped her arms around the other woman, putting her in a sleeper hold and locking her arms from moving.

“Is that good enough?” she asked, panting slightly.

“Mmmph, yes. For today.” Maria said, still struggling for a few more seconds before giving up.

Natasha maintained the hold for another short while just to be sure this wasn’t some kind of a test, and then she eased up on her hold. Her hands lingered on Maria for a few heartbeats before she slowly withdrew them. Hill meanwhile took her time moving away from Natasha, resting her back against the other woman briefly. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“Right, that’s enough training for today, Agent Romanov.” Maria turned to face her, nodding in confirmation of her statement.

Natasha returned the nod, but didn’t start to leave even though she’d been dismissed. “Just for today, as in there’s still more to be done?”

“Your SHIELD training is mandatory, Natasha, even though you arrived here as a trained agent in your own right.” Maria explained.

“I’m well aware SHIELD wants me trained, and as I’ve proven I’m more than welcome to comply with that, but is all of this really necessary?” She reached for her towel once again, wiping away the fresh sheen of sweat she’d just worked up.

“Both the exams and the combat training-” Hill began.

“The exams which I’ve already completed, you mean? With near perfect scores?” Natasha’s scores had rivaled Hill’s own results, in fact, and she’d finished them fairly quickly after Barton had brought her into the fold.

“The same, yes. But the training portion was assigned to me, where I and I alone dictate when you’re ready.” finished Maria.

“When you’re ready to let me go.” Natasha clarified, locking eyes with her trainer.

Maria didn’t answer right away. She took several seconds to collect her thoughts and formulate her response, and Natasha did not interfere with her doing so. After awhile she replied.

“You’ve seen our other... special agents, Natasha. You’ve seen Agent Barton in action, you’ve met Cap, you’ve studied some of our other files and footage on the other persons of interest SHIELD is keeping tabs of for the Avengers Initiative.” Maria knew what Natasha knew, of course, and even though she was handling Natasha’s combat training she was also involved with the other portions as well.

“I do, and I know that I can fit into that program.” She frowned and her body language changed, stiffening. “Look, if you think I’m not able to-”

Maria raised a hand to stop Natasha there. “It’s not that. You're more than qualified for the position, and I know you’ll be able to fit in, eventually anyway.”

“Then what is it?” Natasha visibly relaxed at that, but crossed her arms as she waited for the rest of Hill’s explanation.

“It’s...” She paused again, searching for words. “It’s complicated. The others, they have powers, abilities, what have you. For whatever reason, by way of their birth, or accident, or technology, they’re being chosen for the program. And if Director Fury gets his way they’ll have near unprecedented power. I’m... I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Which was putting it bluntly, but she didn’t want to get into that at the moment.

“And you’re afraid of putting me in that position as well?” Natasha furrowed her brow.

“No, if anything I’m relieved you’ll be there. You’ll keep them in check, you and Agent Barton. I want you there, to make sure they don’t get out of control.” Hill explained. “Maybe I’m pushing you too hard to be sure you’ll be able to do that, but it’s important that you’re able to do so. And...”

“And? Are there any other reasons for holding me back?”

“No, there are not.” Maria responded. “I mean, I enjoy instructing you, and truth be told I’ve learned some things from you as well, but-”

“It’s ok, really.” Natasha said, putting her towel back down. “Though may I request that we stop here for the day?” She checked her watch before looking back to Hill. “We can continue tomorrow if you’d like but I’ve got something I’d like to do this evening, Agent Hill.”

“Sure, Agent Romanov, that’s fine. We’re done until tomorrow.” Maria nodded and turned to get her own belongings, stopping when she turned back around and saw Natasha still standing there.

“Excellent. Then, if we’re off the clock, would you care to join me for dinner? We can discuss this further if you’d like.”

For the first time since they’d begun training, Maria showed just the hint of a smile before nodding in agreement.


End file.
